2KCBWDAY3 - Tidy Mind, Tidy Stitches

Day 3: How do you keep your yarn wrangling organized?

I'd be lying if I said I was super organized. At one point, my yarn stash was literally a pile of yarn, with no organization whatsoever. But I've grown since then, and I have to say I'm happy with how my yarn is organized. The most important thing I feel that I've done was to photograph all my yarns and upload them to my Ravelry stash. It took about a day to do them all, and it was amazing (or sad?) to see yarns I'd completely forgotten that I owned.

Quite honestly, if someone was trying to take the first step in getting organized, I would recommend this, or at least something like it. Knowing your inventory is key. I also made sure I got my knitting bag organized, since I use it on a daily basis.

This great bag was a bridesmaid gift from my cousin, and it's really come in handy for my knitting. It's huge, and can hold tons of stuff. Usually, these are the only things that I make sure are inside:

1 & 2: my wonderful organization bags by MadBird. The big one holds any yarn I'm using, and the little one is for things like pens, stitch markers, scrap yarn, extra needles, and darning needles.

3: This great little notebook is where I write down notes on what I'm currently working on. The cover is handmade from The Fig Leaf.

4. My Nook - need I say much more? I have tons of knitting patterns stored on here. That way, all I have to do is make sure I have the yarn I need, and I can start most any project I want.

5. I picked this notebook up at a used book store, which is weird because it was brand new. It's full of pretty, white, unlined pages. This is where I sketch out ideas I have for patterns. It's great to have with me all the time, because I never know when an image will pop into my head.

6. Ruler and scissors. Duh. I usually keep a tape measure in my little pink bag, too.

I've still got a ways to go, but I'm happy with where I've come so far. Hopefully soon I'll have a nice big set of shelves that will help me organize my yarn in a better fashion, but when you're living in a 450 square foot apartment with your husband and two kitties, there aren't too many options!

2011!

2010 was a rough year for the Sadlers. Needless to say, we're both glad it's 2011. It's a new year, which brings - of course - the resolutions for the year to come. Now I'm not going to kid anyone. I'm not a resolution keeper (ah, 12 days of cooking anyone? although, i did cook most of the recipes, I just haven't blogged about them yet - that will come though!). I know saying "oh, I'm going to blog EVERY DAY!!" is just misleading. That's not going to happen. But I do have a few things I'd like to improve on this year. And, what's even awesome? I've already started on one!

our white Christmas - we got 12 inches of snow!

- be more organized! This is the one I've started. I've started by winding up all my skeins of yarn, taking pictures and uploading them to my Ravelry stash page. This is still in the works, but I've done a good chunk of my yarn. This will help me to remember what all I have, which will help me with my next goal, which is....

- stash busting! 2011 will be the year of knitting with yarn from my stash. The only time I plan on buying yarn is if I need more for a project that I'm working on, or am ordering for a specific project that I am going to start as soon as the yarn arrives.

- continue to experiment with new recipes. I've really enjoyed my 12 days of cooking, even though I haven't done that great of a job documenting it.

- spend more time exploring the beauty of Asheville. Id' like to try and go hiking once a week, but seeing as how right now it's winter and it likes to snow here, I'm just going to say that we're going to do a better job of getting out and spending time outdoors.

- take more pictures! I got a new camera for Christmas, and I'm SO excited to put it to good use.

There are other things I'm sure I'd like to try to improve on, but these are at the top of my list!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year - cheers to a happy and healthy 2011!!

sunset at The Grove Park Inn